A 13-year-old boy was shot in the leg and shoulder by police intelligence detectives Wednesday afternoon in a "volatile scenario," Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said.

Davis held a press briefing Thursday to give an update on the investigation. He said the detectives -- one a 12-year male veteran and the other a six-year female veteran -- had been at police headquarters attending a meeting about recent homicides. On their way back to their district station, they saw a 13-year-old boy with a basketball in one hand and what looked like a gun in his other hand, Davis said.

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Davis said the police officers identified themselves and told the boy to drop the gun. The boy ran about 150 yards. As he was running, at some point, he stopped and turned toward the officers. Davis said the boy still had what looked like a firearm in his hand, at which point, one of the officers shot and wounded the teenager.

"They did what our community expects them to do. If something happens in their presence, they're compelled to act. Police officers don't have to wait until they're being shot at to engage in this scenario," Davis said. "What do they want the police to do? What do they expect us to do? Drive by? We can't call 911. We are 911."

Davis said an independent witness told investigators that the 13-year-old never dropped the gun. The witness said that when the boy turned around back toward the police officer, he still had the gun in his hand and was raising the gun.

A man who identified himself as Bryan told 11 News on Thursday that he saw the shooting as he was in his truck on Baltimore Street. The first thing he claims he saw was the boy running and dropping a basketball, and then he saw two people chasing him.

"(The teen) turned towards them but he wasn't turning the gun towards them, and I'm positive I heard him say, 'It's not real,'" Bryan said.

Bryan said police yelled at the teen to drop the gun as they approached him before he motioned the gun upward, not toward the officers.

"He said, 'It's not real. It's not real,' and that quick, the male officer shot him twice in the leg," Bryan said.